Source: File: Second
Lieutenant Wilfred Owen. See an original image at: <http://www.wilfredowen.org.uk/Biography>
[Accessed 01 January 2017]
By December's despondent
mood,
Second Lieutenant
Wilfred Owen
Stayed in
temporary residence; the
Queens Hotel
Southport, Merseyside
Held little
comfort for 1916's end.
A place poised on
North Sea's edge
To funnel a cold northwest
draft, did
Nothing to uplift
Owen's mood - daily
Challenged by
Major Melville's ways
Of continual dissatisfied
manners.
Still on home
duty Owen was fit and
Ready - while
many resident officers
Wandering there wore gold stripes
On sleeves, to
show there wounded
Status; frustrations
pummelled Owen.
His application to
join draft for Egypt
Had fallen
through - once more Owen
Thought to join
Royal Flying Corps,
But Colonel Ridge
only humored him,
Not wanting to
lose such an officer.
Yet sometimes
what is really desired
Comes about, as
papers evidenced.
To fade in years were adjutant typed
To fade in years were adjutant typed
Notes; 11
December 1916, orders
Stated Wilfred
Owen to go overseas.
Five days leave
led him to Mahim -
Giving a chance
to stay for Christmas.
With packed
valise and preparations
Finished, Owen
learned his company
Would be the
Lancashire Fusiliers.
Another hotel - this time in Folkstone,
To be vaster and
grander than the poky
Cold Queens hotel
- though the journey
There involved a
fright - from London
In the guards van
Owen had dozed.
A goods wagon
passing by suddenly
Lost part of it
load, a timber rolled and
Smashed the roof
of the guards van
Over Owen, like some omen - luckily
Safe, relief came
by a Hotel's company.
The end of 1916
was spent in travel.
Finally Second
Lieutenant Wilfred
Owen set foot on
French ground - date
29 December at
port of Calais - amid
The great machinery of British army.
France was no
stranger to Owen,
Though he
returned in a different
Guise from his
days as a boy's tutor.
A train carried him
along the coast
To the vast base
camp of Etaples.
A transitory stop on way to trench
Line front that held German troops
At bay; Etaples camp, a last ditch
Intensified training for troops, which
Line front that held German troops
At bay; Etaples camp, a last ditch
Intensified training for troops, which
Initially Owen saw as a hotel camp.
Comforts of a helpful servant and
A tent of his own, Wilfred Owen
Experienced
transition from 1916
To 1917 under
canvas - as echoes
Of Scots
celebrated their hogmanay.
Away from such celebrations
other
Men about wore
dogged expressions,
Like a cap badge
- this was no place
For giving up - a
cold dawn arose
On New Year's day's
training routines.
Out in the field
among the troopers,
Lieutenant Owen
took part in acts
Of realism, to
include throwing
Bombs - when a
splinter from one
Cut his thumb; later he wrote home.
For the first
time he wrote 1 January
1917, to tell of
the wounded thumb
To spout blood - alas only a tiny drop.
Then to tell of a
change from prior
Orders to join
2nd Manchester’s.
Owen admitted to
be singled out,
Possibly a
promising officer; to
Be pleased to be
among 'real-old'
Officers, his mood heightened -
He felt a swell of
heroic emotions.
New Years day
boosted Owen's
Excitement, which
had always
Gave him sense of
wellbeing -
Etaples possibly
to assist that
Anticipation, like
a train station.
The maximum stay
he told his
Mother was three
days, as he
Signed off to
pack his valise,
Ready to travel
to Manchester's
Base; little more
than forty miles.
Wilfred Salter
Owen had already
Travelled far
from the teacher
And lost preacher
ambitions -
As an army officer
came new
Sets of rules and
experiences.
By Jamie Mann.
Hibberd, D., 2002. Wilfred
Owen – A New Biography. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Ch 11.
Mann, J., 2016. 100
years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 01 January 2017).
#WW1 #WW1centenary
#GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered
#WW1WilfredOwen
